


But I'm Only Human...

by Lie17



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Allura & Lotor, Elite Allura, Elite Hunk, Elite Keith, Elite Lotor, Elite/Regular/Serving Class AU, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Kosmo Cuteness, M/M, Master/Servant, Regular Curtis, Regular Pidge, Regular Shiro, Serving Class Lance, Slow Burn Keith/Lance (Voltron), i don't make the rules
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2019-10-12 00:06:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17456855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lie17/pseuds/Lie17
Summary: Lance McClain has a sheltered life of isolation on his farm with his family as the only people he really knew until he was kidnapped by two elites and then sold off to another elite, Keith Kogane. This is their journey together as elite and servant learn to get along with one another and learn more things about each other. Will Keith let Lance go back to his family? Or will he keep him forever?Read and find out!





	1. An Ending at the Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm back from hiatus with a new story! I read about this AU through a BL manga and I thought it would be fun to do this with Klance because I love my boys. If you have any questions about this AU please let me know. I'll be happy to answer all of the questions you have for me. I hope you like this and I'm excited on where we are going to go with this. I'm not sure if we'll get to 40 chapters, but that's the goal. Thanks for reading guys and please feel free to leave me some kudos and comments.

Lance McClain had an alright life. He had a roof over his head, clothes, a farm with his family, and he was safe. Safe from what? Well, the rest of the world and their system. The class system was always around, it had no beginning or end. The first tier of the class system was the elite, aside from being rich, they were powerful. The power they possessed only affected those like them and the low-class tier. The second tier was known as the regular class, these where everyday people, they had no power though some of them did have money. They mingled with the other two classes, not being affected by the powers the elites had. The final and last tier was the serving class, true to their word, they were almost always the servants to the elite. They were known to work for some wealthy regular class folks, but mostly they served the elite. They did not possess powers, but they were affected by the elites. The elite could make them bend to their will. Sometimes punishments were given out under those powers and they had no choice but to obey.

Lance had the unfortune to be part of the serving class, his father’s family were serving class and his mother was regular class. When they had children, they lucked out four out of five times. His older siblings Veronica, Marco, and Luis came out regular class, as with his younger sister Rachel, but Lance came out serving class like his father. The giveaway was the black band like mark around his neck he was born with. Everyone in serving class had one, just like everyone in elite class had a crest mark on the palms of their hands. Lance hated the mark around his neck, no matter how much concealer he would put, it would always show. He refused to wear turtlenecks for the rest of his life, so he did what his parents wished for him. He never went to school, he was homeschooled online, he worked on the farm when school was over, he never left the property. He was free but how free was he when he was locked in the house with his father, Peter McClain, to keep him company?

He wasn’t.

Lance hated his life, his lot in life and himself for coming out the way he did. He didn’t want to be locked up for the rest of his life. But, at the same time, how could he go in public as an unclaimed? He would be taken by any elite who saw him and then he would never return to his family or even see them again. He didn’t know what he would do without his family with him. They were his everything, his universe, he loved them so much and the thought of losing them was too painful to bear. He tried to think about other things, so he wouldn’t focus on that.

Today was a boring day for him, his family had gone to market to sell their produce to vendors who would then take it to restaurants. He had gotten up at his usual time, began his online classes, then he moved on to his daily chores. His father was up and working when he got there to work. He helped his father clean up one of the sheds, it was long tedious work. But it was okay because he was helping his elderly father out. He did the hard stuff, getting on his hands and knees scrubbing the floors, walls and ceiling until they sparkled. He cleaned up the equipment, making sure that everything that was coming into the shed was clean. He didn’t want to put anything dirty in there. He smiled when he finished the shed and moved on to something else, like cleaning out the top of the barn.

The barn was a lot harder than he had anticipated but he worked hard in cleaning it. He wanted to impress his father. The top of the barn was his hiding place when he wanted to think. Sometimes he would sleep there because it was nice and cool up there. He liked waking up to the fresh air in the morning. If the wifi could reach over to the barn from the house, he would live up there away from everyone else and their lives. His mother would miss him, but she could always come to visit him. It wasn’t like he was far away from her. He smiled at the thought as he put the finishing touches down. He looked at the time and it was practically almost time for dinner and he still had to wash up before then.

Running into the house, he maneuvered around his mother’s work flow, careful to not hug her or anything lest he get dirt on her. As much as he loved her, the last thing she would want in dirt on her clothes or near her food. He grabbed his towel and went to the shower to wash the day away. He relaxed as he went along with his facial routine after the shower. In refreshing clothes that he was sure going to end up sleeping in, he sat down with his family and listened as everyone recounted their day. Lance couldn’t help but feel the pang of jealousy when his siblings were talking about what they had did, they all had friends except for him. He wanted to know what that was like, to have friends. The way his siblings spoke about their friends, he was sure they loved them a lot.

After that his day was over, he finished the last of his chores after dinner and then it was time to get ready for bed. Lance was laying in his bed, looking up at the window, wondering when his life would change for the better. He closed his eyes and went to sleep. Dreaming about a day where things would be different for once, where he would have friends.

_CRASH!_

Lance shot out of bed and looked around he noticed that nothing was out of place. He heard the crashing noise again and gazed at his door. He heard footsteps and whispering, someone was inside the house. He had heard about break-ins on tv but didn’t think they would happen here in the middle of nowhere. Lance was a brave person, he had to be, because of the farm and what went down on the farm. In a moment like this he had to be brave. He looked out of his room and noticed his siblings were also looking out of their rooms. Veronica had her pistol out, ready to fight, as did Marco, those two were always prepared. Veronica and Marco nodded at one another and left their rooms to go check out what was going on. Lance followed them, though he didn’t have a gun, there were other things he could use. Rachel and Luis were right behind him, he was glad to have some back up.

The noise was coming from the living room, wondering who it was in the middle of the night, Lance paused while his siblings weren’t looking. He wondered where his parents were, they hadn’t been seen yet and they were needing protection. While his siblings went straight into the living room, he made his way through the dining room. That was the easiest way to get into their room, he just wanted to make sure they were safe. What Lance didn’t account for was someone else to be lurking around as well. It was when he felt the knife on his back, he instantly regretted leaving his room in the first place. He held his arms up in the air, not wanting to make things any more complicated as they already where. He felt someone grip his waist and he resisted the urge to fight back, considering the knife was still at his back.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” a male voice asked softly behind him.

Lance shivered as he felt the knife go under the shirt and touch his back, “Please, let me go.”

“And lose a prize such as you? Oh no, you’re coming with us,” the voice told him.

He felt someone else, pull his chin up to face them and he was in shock. Lady Allura from city down the road. He had only seen her in photos, but he knew who she was just by the looking at her. She bought a lot of the family’s produce, she knew his siblings well. She didn’t look as friendly as she did in the pictures. Right now, she looked like she was examining him as if someone would examine an animal. He shivered more as she looked at him, this wasn’t happening. He should have been asleep, wondering what he was going to do tomorrow, not like this. She placed her hand on his mouth as she leaned closer to him. They moved in unison together to make it to the front door. Once Lance and the man made it out easily, Allura made sure it closed with a thud and then followed the other two into the forest.

It was a long walk to the edge of the forest, Lance still tried to not make a big fuss out of what was going on. He was still in shock, he couldn’t believe that he was in the process of being kidnapped. The moment they got in the forest, Lance’s hands were tied behind his back and some duct tape was around his mouth. The tears were beginning to fall by the time he saw the car at the edge of the forest. He looked behind him, secretly hoping that someone from his family had seen him. But no one called his name, and no one came for him. He sobbed as he was placed in the trunk of the car, this wasn’t supposed to happen. The people that were taking him didn’t even register him as one of their own. They placed him in the trunk, for crying out loud. He didn’t know where they were going, not that it mattered because he had never been to town before. He figured they didn’t want him to know where they were going regardless. They probably didn’t want him to get any ideas to escape.

It had taken for what seemed like forever, but the car finally stopped. Lance felt like he was going to throw up. He didn’t know what else they were going to do to him once he was taken out of the trunk. Luckily, they didn’t take him out of the trunk, someone else did. He didn’t know who they were, but they too had the black band around their neck. He was untied and led to a bathroom where he was ordered to strip and bathe. He tried to explain that he had already taken a shower when the order was repeated fervently. Lance gave in and did what he was told and began to bathe. The bathroom was cold and barren of everything, even the water was cold. His family was going to come for him one of these days. Then he would be back at the farm, living his normal life.

Once he was done bathing in the freezing water, he made his way out of the bathtub, and was given a towel to dry himself off with. He was finished drying himself off when the door to the bathroom opened again. He gasped and tried to cover himself, but the towel was already taken away from him. Lady Allura and her associate who was with her walk in. She walks up to him and looks at him from top to bottom as if she was considering something about him.

“I think he’s decent. He’s got a decent sized cock and his ass is impressive. What do you think about him?” She asked the man.

He replied, “Personally, I think he’s too skinny and lanky. They’re going to ask what is wrong with him. I think we should fatten him up first.”

“But if we do that, we might lose their business. I think we give him to them as quickly as possible,” She said before turning the strange person in the room. “Servant get him dressed.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said.

The two walked out of the room, Leaving Lance alone yet again. He had wanted to talk, just as much as he wanted to fight back, but there was stopping him from doing so. He felt like he couldn’t breathe when he was in front of them. It was very uncomfortable yet calm about the entire thing. It was as if his body had wanted to not fight back against the two, though he was sure he could take both on. He was led out of the bathroom and into a simple dressing room. He was given fresh clothes to change in and shoes. All of which were white, even the shoes. Why he was given white to wear he had no idea. He didn’t like wearing white, it was a boring color, according to him. He knew those two who walked in had white hair but still, it looked good on them, it didn’t mean it looked good on him.

All he knew was that Lady Allura was not who his family thought she was. Veronica made her out to seem like some saint-like woman who was kind to everyone. She wasn’t considering that she kidnapped him from his home, saw him naked, all while not even regarding him as another person. Is that why his parents didn’t let him out in public? Because of how people get treated out here? Is this how his own family got treated too? If so, then he learned his lesson, he didn’t want to be here anymore. He wanted to go home. But he didn’t go home, instead he was led to a tiny room barren of everything but a bed. This was his life now and he really wanted this to be some sort of bad dream because he didn’t think he could take any more of this.

Lance didn’t know why they wanted him or what they were going to do to him. All he knew was that he was that it was likely that the back of his neck was going to contain a crest soon. Though his freedom was to be confined into a farm the entire time, never seeing anything else, he was at least with his family. Now, Lance no longer had his family nor his freedom. He wasn’t sure if it was sinking in yet or not. He supposed that he was going to wake up back in his mundane life, convinced that it would all be a dream. At least that was what he hoped when he got in the most uncomfortable bed he had ever slept on. The next morning, he lost more than just a good night sleep, his hope was gone too. His ribs were hurting when he sat up and took a deep breath.

He felt the tears welling in his eyes, but he refused to let them come out. The last thing he needed was for Lady Allura and her friend to see how upset he was. He wanted to be strong, scratch that, he had to be strong. He couldn’t be weak or afraid about what will happen to him. He needed to think about his sanity and how he was going to keep himself safe. He sat up in bed, wondering what the plans were for him. He knew from the conversation yesterday that they were going to sell him to someone. He supposed he would have figure that out, he didn’t know much about prominent families other than the ones he heard about on TV.

The Shiroganes were a wealthy regular class people who did a lot of security work. Since they were regular class, they probably didn’t need anyone in the serving class. The next family was the Garretts, they were an elite class family that were known for their cooking skills. Especially celebrity chef Hunk Garrett who was engaged to one of the regular class yet wealthy families, the Holts. Lance forgot which Holt sibling he was engaged to. Either way, Hunk and his spouse to be in the market for someone of the serving class. The last family was the Koganes, they were elite and had companies that dealt with secret services, one of their branches, known as The Blade of Mamora, was acquired after Knox Kogane married Krolia Mamora, daughter of Kolivan Marmora. Together, Knox and Krolia had their son, Keith Kogane, who was set to have it all. Lance honestly thought there were too many ‘K’ names in that family, but it wasn’t his family, so it why did it matter what he thought? Anyway, they could also be looking for a servant. Though, Lance was pushing more for the Garretts than the Koganes.

The last thing he needed was some puffy and pompous Kogane telling him what to do. There was also the fact that he was terrified of pissing of a Kogane. Since they were basically the elite of the elites, their powers were said to be very strong. Lance didn’t want to mess up in a major way that lead to him having those said, strong powers used against him. Heaven knows what those powers would force him to do. He made a face at the thought of it all. No, he didn’t want to be sold off to a Kogane. He was really hoping and praying for a Garrett. Plus, Garretts are chefs so he would get fed in the process, which is not the point, but still.

He had a lot of time to think, mostly because no one bothered to come into the room, aside from that one servant who would bring food. The food wasn’t great, but it was better than nothing. Lance made due with the portions he had and was grateful that there was something in his stomach rather than nothing. His captors might be cruel but at least they weren’t inhumane and starving him. The water he was given had a funny taste and it always made him sleepy when he would drink it. He didn’t remember falling asleep, but he would always wake up in bed. It was strange but since he seemed fine when he woke up, he figured he was only asleep and nothing bad happened to him.

On the third day, Lady Allura and the man came in to his room. Again, when he saw them, his voice was gone, he had a distinct feeling to obey them. Was this the power they spoke of? The will to fight, yell, and run was gone. All he felt like doing was listening to what they had to say. Even though it wasn’t what his mind was screaming at him to do. It was a feeling that was unfamiliar to him, so these elites had to have been using some of their power against him to keep him from doing anything unsavory. He stood up from the bed to the center of the room, where the two circled him like two hungry vultures.

“See? I told you he would gain some weight if we fed him rather than selling him right away,” the man stated.

Allura rolled her eyes, “Alright, Lotor, you win, but just remember exactly who thought of taking him in the first place. Veronica always talked about him, I thought he was just a sick regular but when she showed me the picture of him, I knew he was anything but a regular. You know, the McClains came today, right?”

As Lotor nodded, Lance felt dread within the pit of his stomach. His family had come to this place. Where they still looking for him? What had they said? He wanted to know badly and looking at how the two were smiling at one another, they knew. Were they going to make him cry? He hadn’t cried since the night they took him and placed him in that trunk. He was going to be brave and strong for his family, he had to be brave and strong for them or else he would be broken, and he didn’t want to break yet. He still had some fight left in him and Allura and Lotor knew it. They were trying to break him, trying to make him into one of those mindless obedient servants but he wasn’t going to let that happen. If they were going to sell him, then they were going to have to sell him as he was.

“Ah yes, the lady- oh what’s her name- Mrs. McClain was a sobbing mess in your arms as I recall,” Lotor sneered as he spoke.

Allura laughed, “Yes she was. Poor thing, losing a child that you love, must be difficult indeed. I’m sure. But to know that your son was kidnapped by people that sell to prominent elites must be a harder pill to swallow. Especially when they snuck past their noses, So the very thought that Mrs. McClain would never see her son again, must be so overwhelming to her. She did faint after all. Unfortunately, no one knows who took him so that’s the biggest mystery, isn’t it?”

Lance could feel the anger bubbling within him, but his body was perfectly still. He couldn’t believe they told his mother that someone had taken him from their home and sold him off. It was true, but his mother could have easily believed that he ran away or something like that. They didn’t have to make his mother feel bad or make his siblings worry whenever they left their father at home if he was going to be there or not. His mother was going to get depressed and not want to leave her bed, Lance just knew she was going to do that. Seeing her like that his going to hurt his siblings and father, as well as himself for knowing that was bound to happen. It was all going to be his fault, if only he hadn’t separated from his siblings. Then things would be different, he would still be home without a care in the world. The last thing he wanted was for his family to hurt and he not there to make it better.

He could tell that Lotor and Allura wanted to laugh at him, but he wasn’t going to let that get to him. He was going to make his parents proud and he was going to get out of there. He would see them again, he just knew it. So, he kept his breathing steady as he looked at both in the eyes, daring them to say something else. Though he couldn’t move, it didn’t mean he wasn’t going to give in just yet. He was a McClain and McClains don’t give up when things get harder, they get smarter.

“Well then, won’t the Kogane family have so much fun with you once the transaction is over…” Lotor walked closer to him, “I bet they’ll kill him within the first month. What do you say?”

Allura shrugged, looking at her nails was a much better way to pass the time than even looking at him, “Lotor, have you no faith in our little servant? I give him a year tops before they get rid of him or sell him to someone else. Like your father, Zarkon.”

Lance paled at the mention of Zarkon, he was also one of those people who famously known. He didn’t know Zarkon had a son and this wannabe twink was it. He had seen several images of Zarkon and he was not a man anyone wanted to mess with. Rumors had it that he used new servants for pleasure, using his power over them to make them obey him before getting rid of them and moving on to the next one. The thought of Lance becoming one of those servants sent chills down his spine. Though he had long excepted the fact that he was bisexual, he still had standards and that man was not on that list of people he found attractive. He reminded Lance of one of those ancient turtles, a giant monster turtle, but still a turtle.

He noticed the other two were laughing at his reaction and he couldn’t help but feel like he had lost a battle in some way. Sure, he was going to be sold and forced to be a servant for some Kogane that he hadn’t wanted in the first place. So, he had lost several battles already before losing this one, but that didn’t mean he was going to lose all of them. He wanted them to know that he wasn’t going down without a decent fight. They used so many things to make him feel weaker than they were but there was one thing they couldn’t control and that was his thoughts. He could think whatever he wanted of them and these two wouldn’t be able to change that. He inwardly smiled as he thought about what he was doing.

“Well then, I think we’ve had enough fun for one day, I think we should go back to making sure the

Kogane’s are coming,” Lotor said, heading toward the door.

Allura nodded, turning around, “Good idea, you call them.”

Lance wanted to snicker when he saw the look of annoyance written on Lotor’s face. He held himself back from doing so, he had plenty of time to laugh at the man when he was alone. Though when he was finally alone, he didn’t think about laughing. The depression of the entire situation hit him, and he felt like drowning. Lunch didn’t come that day, so when dinner came around, he was upset that it was a much smaller portion than usual. Then, he was also surprised that the food came with some juice rather than the funky tasting water he was getting used to.

The juice was decent, it tasted like it was watered down. Geez, these people were stingy when it came to feed and give nourishment to those they held prisoner. Lance didn’t know if they were others in this predicament or if he was the only one they kidnapped. He hadn’t heard any noises from any of the other rooms, but that could be because the walls were thick and insulated? Lance didn’t know if that was true or not, but it was a lucky guess if they were. He wondered but he didn’t dare try to open the door, he heard the lock click when Allura and Lotor left. He didn’t want to tempt them in hurting him more than they already have.

He thought of his mother and the pain she must have felt from missing him. He missed her too as well as his siblings and father. He wondered how they were doing, not that he could go see them but perhaps, when he was sold off, his master would be nice enough to let him communicate with his family. He hated that he was thinking if or when and about his master. He didn’t have a master! Though that was about to change. He thought about what his future was going to be like serving a Kogane. He didn’t know how they were going to treat him. He knew the elites treated those of serving class like garbage usually. Perhaps he would have one that treated him like recycling, which is slightly better. He didn’t want to think about what the future held for him. He glanced up at the ceiling and let that mundane fan rock him slowly to sleep.

Three days later, Lance was finally led out of the room and into another. He wasn’t surprised that there were other boys there around his age. What freaked him out was that the other boys all looked like him. He hadn’t figured that Allura and Lotor were looking out for a type. He looked around at the other boys, most of them looked broken, some even averted their gaze. They all had to have been either Cuban like him, or from some other Spanish speaking place. All their outfits were white or at least, used to be white. Lance had been there for six days and his outfit was off white by now. He hadn’t been out of his room to take a shower, so he felt filthy. Lotor was keeping his eyes on them so none of the other boys dared to speak. Majority flinched upon having him walk by them.

The doors in front of them opened and in came Allura dressed perfectly as ever. Her dress, giving her the illusion of her floating. Behind her, in came the one and only Keith Kogane followed by another man with jet back hair and a scar over the bridge of his nose. That could only be a Shirogane, but Lance didn’t know which one. Keith barely looked around the room before muttering something under his breath which earned him the chuckle of the Shirogane. The two of them exchanged a few words before the older man chuckled again, leaving Keith making a face and sighing very hard before turning to look at all of them standing before him.

“Your parents were very specific on what you were looking for,” Allura said.

Keith regarded the woman and said, “That was a private conversation between me and my parents. But my parents already paid so I might as well go through this…”

Lance noticed that Keith was going to all of them one by one and would refuse them when he saw them recoil away from him. It was when it was his turn did something change. Keith was an intimidating guy, he wasn’t that much shorter than Lance was. His hair was a mullet which made Lance want to cringe away and get some scissors to give this guy a proper haircut. The only thing that stood out about Keith was his eyes, they were a beautiful amethyst. It seemed like they were having a staring contest and neither wanted to lose. Finally, Lance blinked which had Keith blinking as well. Keith lifted his hand and let it hover above the back of Lance’s neck. Lance felt it tingle and he just knew that the Kogane crest was on the back of his neck now.

“I’m taking him."


	2. For the Love of Kosmo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with chapter two. Since I'm going to school full time and I have a job writing is going to take some time but I tried hard to write every single day. I want all the chapters to be around 5k-7k words. So it really takes time when it comes to writing them all. But I promise I'm working on the next chapter already. This time it's going to be from Lance's POV again so there's that. I'm so happy I got so much positive reactions to this. It made me want to keep writing more for y'all! 
> 
> Enjoy!

Keith wasn’t the type of elite who wanted to have a servant following him around like some sort of lapdog. So, when he said he chose this boy with the sun kissed skin, freckles and beautiful cerulean eyes, he was expecting something other than the annoyance on Allura’s face. She didn’t like Keith so of course she was going to embarrass him by bringing him boys that were aesthetically his type if he wanted to sleep with them. His parents had made it clear to him that his new servant could be used for pleasure. He could already hear Shiro laughing at him once they got in the car. At the same time, he was laughing inwardly because this boy wasn’t who Allura wanted him to pick, well excuse him for wanting someone interesting rather than terrified that he was going to do bodily harm. As much as what people expected of him, he wasn’t one to do that.

With nothing else to say he turned around and began walking out of the room, sure his company followed him. He didn’t turn back to check, Shiro introduced himself to the servant and he hid a snort. He honestly wasn’t surprised by Shiro, he always spoke to those of serving class, as the same with his acquaintances. He was raised with never speaking so casually with the serving class unless they did something wrong and needed to be reprimanded. He wasn’t sure what approach he would try when it came to his new servant. There was something about this servant that drew him in. But of course, as Allura had warned him, their recent boy had never served before. Keith saw it as a blessing rather than a curse, he didn’t need some else’s old habits to come in and bite him in the ass. He wanted new and that’s what he got.

When they got to the car, that’s when he turned around to look behind him at Shiro. He could almost see the confusion by the servant. It was odd that he had two cars waiting for him. One of them was for him and the other was for his dog, Kosmo. No matter what Kosmo went where ever he went and now, he was going to have someone to keep his favorite buddy company when he couldn’t bring him inside with him. His parents were right, there was perks to having a servant around.

“You,” he looked at the servant, he really needed to get his name from Shiro, “are going in that last car while me and Shiro go in this first one. Got it?”

The servant nodded and went into the car, leaving the other two to do the same. The door was opened for them and the pair got into the car and waited for the driver to drive away. It was going to be along drive home, considering Keith was lived in the outskirts of town in the middle of nowhere. He wondered about Kosmo and thought about what he thought about the new servant. He gazed out the window and looked at the rolling hills. While Shiro was on his phone sending texts to his mother, probably, that was who he reported to after all. It annoyed Keith that his oldest friend worked for them as his body guard, but he would eventually get over it.

“So… what made you pick Lance?” Shiro asked.

“His name is Lance?” he asked before receiving a pointed look from Shiro to stick with the question. “I don’t know, he wasn’t afraid to look at me in the eye, I guess.”

It was more than that and they both knew it. Keith didn’t want to tell him the real reason, he didn’t want to embarrass Lance. Before he went to make his choice final, Keith was sent pictures of all the boys. All of them looked scared as they looked at the camera, then there was Lance’s photos. His eyes were wide, but it was as if his brain wasn’t registering at all. It made him think that they were giving something to Lance that they weren’t giving to the others. And it also brought up the question as to what they were giving him in the first place. If they could do that to someone what else were they capable of? He noticed the way that both Allura and Lotor acted when he picked Lance. They must have had different plans for him if he wasn’t chosen. He knew the two of them were sneaky as fuck and he knew something would be bound to happen to Lance if he didn’t do anything about it. So, he chose him, at least with Lance being with him, he knew he was safe.

Of course, as previously stated, he didn’t want Shiro to know any of this because he didn’t want to embarrass Lance. He also didn’t want Shiro to know because he didn’t want the older man to think that he was rubbing off on Keith. Because if the man did, then he would never hear the end of it. Sure, the teasing was endearing, but it was also embarrassing.

The two had small talk on the way home, Shiro was talking about going out for drinks tonight with someone. Keith couldn’t help but notice the smile on his face as he mentioned it. It was no secret that Shiro was gay and that he was in the dating scene, he made that clear when he first started working as his bodyguard. In the beginning he was dating a fellow bodyguard named Adam. In their time off, they were practically linked by the hip. But then Adam passed away. Shiro had been devastated, but he still came to work and was kind to Keith. Younger Keith did his best to comfort the man, earning him a smile. And now, Shiro was still going on dates and tonight he was meeting someone new in a different career path. He was a physical trainer and his name was Curtis. Keith had been teasing Shiro all week about it which had Shiro still smiling. It was nice to see him happy again.

They made their way home in record time, the two of them stretched their legs, it was a long ride. Keith was thinking about other things when he heard melodious laughter. He turned around to find Lance letting Kosmo climb all over him and lick him. Shiro laughed and mention how surprising that was. It was true, the husky wolf mix, wouldn’t led anyone near him. He only liked a handful of people and certainly not strangers he had never met before. There had to have been something about Lance to make Kosmo go crazy for the guy. The pair didn’t even notice they were being stared at until Lance looked up saw Keith looking at them both. Judging from the way those blue eyes widened, he most likely thought he was in trouble. He stood up as soon as he could and looked away but still giving Kosmo attention as the dog asked for it. Keith carefully walked up to the two of them, with Shiro behind him. He caught the dog’s attention as the he ran over to him and obediently stayed by his side.

“Looks like Kosmo made a friend,” Shiro spoke.

Lance gazed at him through worried eyes. In all honesty, Keith didn’t know what to say to him. He looked worried and scared though he didn’t show these emotions when he first saw the Cuban, he could tell they were real now. He wasn’t good with people, damn it. He just wanted to reassure the guy that it was chill to play with his dog without making it seem like a big deal. It was a lot harder than he thought it was going to be. He looked down at Kosmo, who looked back up at him, eyes screaming that he wanted to play again with his new friend. Keith could never say no to Kosmo, even if he wanted to, he could never bring himself to tell his good boy no.

Keith cleared his throat, “Well, considering Kosmo hates almost everyone he meets, I know I can trust you by seeing how much he likes you.”

He felt better once seeing Lance’s shoulders relax slightly. He might not have gotten this guy he just bought to trust him right away. Not that he was expecting to, if he was bought by someone, he would try his best to make that person’s life a living hell. So, this was going to take some time for both to get to know and trust one another completely. He motioned Lance to follow him inside the mansion, Shiro was already by his side like always. They entered the home, and automatically there were servants flocking them. Keith didn’t know if it was because they wanted to get a good look at Lance or if they were really trying to be helpful. The more he walked, the more they kept following him, so he decided to just stop moving and looked over the group of eight other people.

“Settle down, if my mother were to see you all, you would all be punished. Okay, you there, take him to get cleaned up and give him some uniforms, then bring him to my rooms. The rest of you can get back to doing what you’re supposed to do,” Keith said before he, Shiro and Kosmo all walked away.

The walk to his rooms was a long one, mostly because he didn’t want to be near his parent’s rooms. He wanted to be in the farthest possible rooms in the house and he wanted his own private entryway. He got one of those things but not so much of the other thing. They were still working on the private entrance, he hated having to use the front door. When he finally got to his rooms, he relaxed in the sitting room as he thought about Lance. There was something about him that was different, unlike the other servants. He couldn’t place it but by how soft his hands and his face looked, Keith knew the guy had never worked a day in his life. How did he manage to do that? He wanted to ask but he knew now wasn’t the time.

Shiro didn’t even bother to hide his chuckle as he said, “You just gave Lance to the wolves, you know that, right?”

Of course, Keith knew that, but he didn’t want to admit it. He simply said nothing and pretended to be more interested in Kosmo. He knew what he did to Lance, but it was better that he was led away by the other servants than anyone else. He hoped that Lance didn’t think of him like a monster the other servants would make him out to be. He thought about going to finish some class work, but he couldn’t even be bothered to think right now. Not when his mind was somewhere else, with someone else. He made a face and thought what he needed to do for the day.

“I still don’t understand how buying another human being is normal in our society,” He said finally.

Shiro nodded and glanced over at the clock, probably because his shift was bound to be over soon, and he could leave. Some of the Blade of Mamora would stay here and protect the house and family in the evening, as were the orders of his grandfather, Kolivan. Keith didn’t like that he had so much surveillance on him. It wasn’t like he had a choice in the matter so why should he care? He a mental note to be sneaky when he was going to sneak out. He would have to try- no, he couldn’t try. If he succeeded and Lance was the one who discovered it, he would get in trouble. The last thing Keith wanted was for Lance to be in trouble for something that was out of his control. He sighed but didn’t add anything else to the conversation

Shiro was thoughtful as he replied, “I don’t agree with it either, even though in some cultures it’s normal for a regular to buy another regular. At least In this society, the people being bought have been prepared for it their entire lives.”

“Right, ‘prepared’. That’s an easy way to call it. I don’t think anyone can be prepared for their life to be taken away from them. I don’t want to do that to anyone,” He said.

Shiro turned to him and asked, “Then what will you do with Lance?”

Keith loved and hated the fact that Shiro had all the good questions. What would he do with Lance? That was a hard question, a hard question that deserved an honest answer. He wasn’t sure what he could do with Lance. His parents wanted him to have a servant for pleasure. Keith was many things, but he didn’t consider himself the type of guy who wanted to force himself on a servant. What Keith really wanted was company, as much as he was a ‘lone wolf’, he didn’t want to be alone. His parents were busy and practically had no time to be with their only son. Not that Keith cared or anything, he was fine left to his own devices. He wouldn’t mind company, even if that company was bought for him.

Shiro patted his back and told him to really think about it before he took his leave, his shift was finally over, and he didn’t want to keep Curtis waiting. Keith watched him go, knowing full well that he was going to make fun of the man the very next day because of this. Kosmo came to him and leaned his head on his lap. He wondered what Lance was would think of him after the horror stories he was bound to hear from the other servants. The last thing he wanted was for Lance to fear him more.

He heard the door knock before it was opened. He felt Kosmo leave his side and happily wag his tail at the sight of Lance. Keith knew the other servants would make Lance come in by himself. He was going to have a word with those servants whether they liked it or not. He glanced in the direction that Kosmo was at and saw his dog, getting affection from Lance, who was knelt on the floor. Keith tried not to smile at the sight of his dog acting like a puppy again. The moment was short lived as Lance looked up and met his eyes for a moment before the servant stood up. Lance made his way towards in wearing the deep purple uniform that all the family servants wore, even down to the cloth shoes. Keith was too busy thinking about how the uniform made Lance’s eyes stand out. Until he heard Kosmo bark that is, he blinked and shook his head.

“So what kind of horrible things did you hear about me to make you so jumpy?” Keith asked.

Lance paled, “Horrible things? What horrible things? No one said anything like that.”

“You are so bad at lying. We can go about this the easy way or I could compel you to tell me. Either way, I’m going to find out,” Keith said.

Lance backed away, “You wouldn’t compel me, would you?”

Keith was half tempted to compel him right now and force the information out of him. But he liked watching Lance squirm, it entertained him. He stood up and watched how Lance backtracked the more he went forward. Finally, Lance hit a wall which had the servant panicking. He chuckled as he got closer to the other boy. This was the most fun he had in the longest time. When he was younger, he used to play with the servant’s children or other elite children. That was how he was friends with Hunk Garrett. But this kind of playing around was different, he was having fun but in a whole different way.

“I’m waiting,” He said.

“Okay! Okay! They might have said something about you,” Lance began, “They said you were worse than your parents and you want to use me for your pleasure…”

He made a face at the last part. Even the servants knew about what his parents wanted him to buy a servant for. He pulled away from Lance, which left the other confused. He ran a hand through his own hair, lost in thought about how the servants knew that detail. He knew the servants would scare the crap out of Lance, but he didn’t think they would tell him the rest of it. He could talk to his mother and let her handle the situation with servants that gossip about them. But where would be the fun in that? If he could handle it without his mother, then he would do so. It wasn’t like they didn’t deserve it for scaring Lance.

“I’ll take the first part as a compliment. As for the second part, I’m not going to use you for pleasure. I wouldn’t do that to you. My parents paid Allura to find someone for pleasure but, that’s not what I wanted,” He said.

He went to sit back down on the couch, not looking behind him to see if Lance stayed stuck to the wall or not. When he turned around, he noticed that Lance did indeed move from the wall and was now etching closer to him. Keith glanced down at Kosmo who looked back up at him while his eyes were on Lance. It gave Keith the best idea that he ever had so far in this situation. His attention turned to Lance who was admiring the room, sure it was a lovely room, but it wasn’t worth that much attention. He cleared his throat which got him Lance’s attention.

Lance shuffled uncomfortably as he asked, “So what’s going to happen to me?”

“Nothing, your main job is to watch over Kosmo when I’m busy. Everywhere I go, you’ll go because he goes with me everywhere. If I’m not busy and can watch him, I’ll give you something else to do. But for now, you take care of my dog, he needs a lot of attention and I think you can handle it. What do you say?” He asked.

He watched how Lance’s eyes went wide. His body, once tense, deflated in relief. Keith never trusted anyone with Kosmo before, but now that he had someone else to watch him, he could get a lot of things done, like his school work. Plus, Lance was much more comfortable with Kosmo than he was with him. It was a fact that he found hilarious considering the dog was more dangerous than he was. But he didn’t mention anything about that, he wanted Lance to love his dog as much as he loved Kosmo. He held back a smile and thought about what else he was going to do this week. He had mostly school work that he needed to do. Several projects he needed to work on that he hadn’t even thought about getting started on. He hadn’t expected it all to pile up on him, but they did. There really wasn’t much he could do about that aside from buckling down and doing the work.

Lance nodded and said confidently, “I can do that. Kosmo and I are great buddies already. We had a car ride to talk it over. Right, Kosmo?”

The dog barked in response and moved towards Lance to jump on him like he had done earlier. Lance couldn’t help but smile and laugh at the dog as he showered the animal with affection. Keith hid a smile yet again and couldn’t wait to tell Shiro about his plan tomorrow. He was sure the man was going to tell him it was a great plan and possibly would offer Keith to help with his homework and projects he had to do. Well, that was for sure some wishful thinking, but he didn’t care. He was just happy that someone else was going to help him with Kosmo. That dog still thought he was a puppy and needed all the attention he could get and someone to play with him. It was very much, a win-win situation.

“Perfect because you start tomorrow at eight in the morning,” Keith said.

With that Lance was dismissed to go to his room, which the servants managed to show the other boy before sending him to Keith. He watched Lance leave the room and he sighed and collapsed on the couch. Kosmo was whining at the door when Lance left, it was short lived when Keith called the dog to him. He smiled as Kosmo came bounding up to him.

He sighed and kissed the dog’s forehead, “Looks like you got a friend, buddy. I couldn’t be happier for you.”

The next morning came all too soon for him. He fell asleep early last night so he was a little confused when he woke up late. He was awake at seven sharp and heading down to eat breakfast. This time, he woke up to the sound of someone knocking at his bedroom door, thinking it was Shiro, he told the person to come in. So, when Lance walked in with a breakfast tray instead of it just being Shiro, he was surprised. This normally didn’t happen, Keith knew that Lance was his and therefore allowed to come into his room. But for Lance to see him in such a state, he was embarrassed to say the least. At least when it was Shiro, it was someone he was familiar with. He really didn’t know Lance that well enough to see him in his night clothes.

“Good morning, did you sleep well?” Lance asked quietly as he came into the bedroom with the tray.

The first thing Keith noticed was how puffy Lance’s eyes looked. He looked as if he had cried or stayed up all night or stayed up all night and cried. He felt a pang of empathy fill his chest. If Lance was as new as he thought he was, he probably had cried. The fact that he tried to be cheerful and make conversation made him wonder about Lance. He didn’t know what he could do to help make the other feel better. The bitter pill Keith had to swallow was perhaps there was nothing he could do about it. He didn’t like to think that way. He always believed that he would be able to help someone when they needed it. But did Lance need help and if he did from what?

Keith replied, “I slept, probably better than I have in a long time. You?”

He noticed the little details such as the way Lance’s furrowed his browns so slightly as he tried to answer the question. That was Keith’s red flag, knowing after that, nothing his servant was going to tell him was going to be honest with him. He was sure that being in a new place was going to be something very hard, so he was going to let this slide, He didn’t want Lance to be unhappy but, he wasn’t sure what he could do about it.

“I slept great, thank you for asking. Um… I don’t know what to call you,” Lance said.

Keith inwardly yelled at himself for not thinking about that, “Well, I suppose you can call me sir. I don’t like the idea of being called master.”

“Alright, Sir. Breakfast is next to you. Did you want me to take Kosmo out?” he asked, getting the dog’s leash.

Keith nodded, watching the pair leave. With them gone, he ate his breakfast and left the tray where it was before getting dressed. He knew how long Kosmo liked to take when it came to the dog doing his business. He had roughly half an hour before Kosmo came back in with Lance in tow. He barely finished dressing when the maids came in insisting that they clean the room and fix the bed. They were usually done in ten minutes which gave him time to start up his laptop to look at his school work and what he wanted to do first. He decided to start on one of his projects which was a book report. The problem was the only book that was available was The Count of Monte Cristo. Keith had seen the movie a long time ago, sure it had sword fights, but it also had love and all the bullshit that comes with it. The last thing Keith wanted to read about love conquering all evil. It wasn’t true, love didn’t conquer all evil, it just made it worse in his opinion.

Shiro walked in some time after that, looking rather chipper. They greeted one another, and Keith told him his problems with the book. Which had Shiro thinking about what they could do instead of the book project. Lance came in after that and gave Kosmo food and water. Neither Shiro, nor Keith paid any attention to Lance as he went about doing things for Kosmo. It wasn’t until they went back to the book report that Lance’s attention was away from the dog and to Keith.

Lance exclaimed, “You’re going to read The Count of Monte Cristo? That’s like my favorite book ever!”

Keith and Shiro turned around to look at the other boy, Lance simply went red once he realized what he did. Keith was entirely confused. Servant class folks usually weren’t allowed to go to public school and learn things such as reading a classic book or even language arts. They usually learned the minimal and learned things according to their station in life. It was shocking for Keith to hear that Lance not only knew how to read but his favorite book was a classic book. Keith was impressed and judging from the look on his face, so was Shiro.

“You like The Count of Monte Christo?” Shiro asked.

At the same time Keith asked, “You know how to read?”

Keith winced the moment the words came out. Shiro shot him a look while Lance’s eyes were wide as if he didn’t know if he should be insulted or not. He knew that he said dumb things before, but he didn’t think he was going to be entirely stupid.

“Yes, The Count of Monte Cristo is my favorite book and yes, Sir, I know how to read. I’m not some uneducated person because of what I am,” Lance said.

Shiro gave Keith a side glance, with the sides of his lips curving into a smile. Keith was sure Shiro wanted to say something, but the man held himself back. The last thing Shiro needed to do was to get these boys agitated. For that, Keith was grateful to him.

Keith cleared his throat, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I was surprised. The servants I grew up with didn’t read well. So, I guess I just assumed.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry too,” Lance said looking down at his cloth shoes.

Keith shook his head, “Would you be willing to help me with my book report? I want to do a good job, but I admit I’ve never read that book before and its very long.”

He watched Lance look up at him in surprise, like the last thing on his mind was for Keith to ask him that. He glanced over at Shiro looking for an answer, but the man was silent. No sound left him, he was also thinking, examining Lance out od curiosity. He waited for his answer but the longer it was taking the more impatient he was. He wanted an answer already because really what did Lance have to think about? It was a simple yes or no question. He wanted to tell Lance to hurry up with his answer but knew that Shiro wouldn’t have approved of the way he spoke to Lance. In all honesty, his mother was right, he should have more patience.

“I can help you. I’ve read it enough times to know the ins and outs of it. But I won’t mind reading it again,” Lance offered.

Keith shrugged, “That’s fine. I don’t own a copy, but we can borrow one at the library. I’m sure I can send someone to get the copy or we can go to the library.”

Keith had already felt like he was cooped up in his room for a long time today so there was nothing wrong with a trip to the library. And the way Lance’s eyes lit up at the thought of a visit to the library, made the offer of the idea worth it. Though he didn’t understand why Lance was so excited to go to a library in the first place. There really wasn’t much interesting in there. Maybe Lance loved going to the library before he had this life? He didn’t know, and he wasn’t sure if he should ask. He didn’t want to bring up bad memories for him or make him upset. He looked down enough as it was. He didn’t need him to be even more. Plus, this would give them time to get to know each other, so Keith called for his ride, opting for the two cars again. They could get to know each other at the library.

So, heading down to the garage, with Kosmo in tow, Lance and the dog got into one car while Keith and Shiro got in the other. Keith was glad that Lance didn’t go into the same car as him, Kosmo needed the company more than he did. He watched as Shiro gave the address to the driver and then they were off. He glanced outside of the window waiting for them to go into the city. It was going to be long drive, but it was going to be worth it.

“So, what did you decide from the question that I asked you yesterday?” Shiro asked.

It was always Shiro who asked the tough questions and he loved him for that. Suddenly the long ride was going to be longer than he thought it would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't forget to leave a comment or even some kudos. It's like my food for me. Have a great week and weekend guys!


	3. Of Libraries and Nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first, I apologize for taking so long in doing this chapter. I started math class and it's not my strongest class. Now I'm taking classes that I am stronger in so I can make time for writing. So don't worry! You haven't seen the last of me yet. I'm going to keep this fic going. Well here is the next chapter, I hope you like it!

Lance was excited about going to the library. It was the one place that will lend out a book for you to read for free! He smiled and cuddled Kosmo who barked back happily. He wasn’t sure if Kosmo was able to go inside with them. As he recalled, the dog didn’t when Keith took him from Allura and Lotor. He shivered, he didn’t want to think about that right now. He was going to have so much fun at the library and he didn’t want to ruin it by bad thoughts. He already stayed up half the night crying, he didn’t want Keith to know that. Though the other boy was intimidating, and power emanated from him, he at least was nice enough to not make him a pleasure servant. He wouldn’t know what to do at that point, if it happened.

He must have fallen asleep curled up with Kosmo because the next thing he knew, he woke up when the driver used the breaks suddenly. It woke up the dog who decided to bark at the driver for his stunt. Lance stifled making any noise when the driver apologized to the animal. He briefly wondered if the staff was that much afraid of Keith that they would apologize to his dog when the dog got angry. It was funny for sure, Lance would laugh when he was in his room later. For now, he had to be professional. He didn’t want Keith to get mad and take it out on him. That was another thing the servants told him about Keith. He would get angry and take it out on unsuspecting servants.

Lance was many things but the last thing he wanted was Keith to make him his personal punching bag. He didn’t tell Keith that part because he knew that the other boy was going to deny it. He also didn’t want to be sent back to Allura or Lotor either because they were going to give him to Zarkon. He would rather die at the hands of Keith than be sent to Zarkon. He shook his head once more to get those thoughts out. He needed to keep Keith happy, he had to be happy no matter what he felt. Even when the walls crashed around him, he had to pretend that everything was good.

When the driver parked, Lance was told by the driver to wait in the car before jumping out. Soon the door to his side was opened to reveal Shiro who said the driver was going to keep Kosmo company while the three of them went to the library. Lance nodded, gave the dog a big kiss before heading outside of the car. His heart broke at the thought of being away from his new friend and hearing the whines Kosmo made, but he would make due. Out of the car, he glanced around and saw the library in front of him. It was a modernized building with every single wall was a shaded window. It was about two stories high, with a colorful walkway of reds, blues, greens, and yellows blended together to lead the way into the black looking building.

Lance was breathless as he asked, “That’s the library?”

“Yeah, that’s the library, have you ever been to one before?” Keith asked him.

He shook his head, mindlessly spoke about how his family never let him leave the house as he stared wide eyed. He didn’t notice the looks they gave him or if he did, he didn’t voice it. He waited for Keith to move before he started his walk toward the large building. His eyes were everywhere; the giddiness was just about to eat him up. But he maintained his composure, he would rather not ruin this outing with his bliss. He kept walking toward the building, coming up rather close to Keith and Shiro. Though he worried about them wanting to be seen with him hovering around. But they didn’t say anything about it, so it must be okay. He kept his eyes in front of him at the building that was coming closer and closer to them.

When they finally reached the doors and walked into the library, Lance was in awe.

When he was little, he imagined library full of dusty old books with an elderly librarian who insisted on silence. Not only were there books kept in great shape, but there was a café, movies and video games that could also be rented. He didn’t know what he wanted to look at first, but he knew they were for one reason, The Count of Monte Cristo. He didn’t know that Keith had his eyes on him and watched him go from excited to resigning and walking towards the books. Lance found the book in a heartbeat and he gazed at the cover. He always connected with Edmond Dantes, understanding what it’s like to be cooped up somewhere for years with no one to talk to. Though he was kidnapped and sold off he felt freer now than when he was home. Now that he wasn’t locked away, he yearned for his family and his freedom. Why couldn’t he get both?

He felt someone tap his shoulder, thinking it was Keith he turned around swiftly to find…it wasn’t Keith or Shiro. Where were they? Weren’t they just behind him as he went to get the book? Fortunately, it wasn’t Allura or Lotor that had come to take him away again. That made him relax, but the person staring back at him didn’t look exactly friendly either. Immediately, Lance could tell that the man was an elite. His mark wasn’t that elaborate as Keith’s. That part didn’t matter much when he was going to get marked either way. It was easy for someone to replace the servants’ mark on his neck, but it would hurt him in the process. He backed up and kept the back of his neck covered and out of reach as he could get.

“Can I help you?” he squeaked.

The man was taller than him, a large build, muscles on him and he held Lance’s chin to make him look up to the stranger, “I can’t help but notice how lovely you are. How have I never seen you before?”

“Uh I-” he stammered.

“Lance, come here now.”

He turned to see Keith clearly not happy at all. Was he mad at him? He probably shouldn’t have walked off without looking to make sure the others were behind him. He felt the pull towards the other and he managed to get out of being boxed in and got behind him. The man regarded Shiro and Keith, before walking towards them. The man kept the smile on, his face as he walked closer. Shiro kept Keith behind him and looked at the other man seriously. Lance was confused, he hadn’t seen Shiro this serious nor Keith like this, not even yesterday.

“Hello young Kogane, and Shiro, you look well. I’m sorry, I didn’t know the boy was spoken for,” The man said.

Shiro gave a curt nod and said, “Likewise, Sendak, hopefully next time you’ll remember. Have a nice day.”

The two men nodded at one another and the man named Sendak walked away. The moment Sendak was out of hearing and visibility did Keith and Shiro face Lance who was shaking with how scared he was. Keith held him by his shoulders, not letting him run anywhere to breathe or even think. His blue eyes were wide with fear that he flinched when Keith and Shiro turned towards him. He took a breath and did his best to be brave and accept any punishment that he was going to get. He shouldn’t have walked away from them while in thought that he was with them. He just stared at both men, waiting for one of them to hold him down while he was beat. He just hoped it wouldn’t have been in such a public place. But he fucked up so what did he have any say to how he was going to be punished?

“Lance-” Keith began, which made Lance shake even more.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know that he was there, and you weren’t following me-!”

“Lance, please look at me,” Keith said in a voice softer than he had heard the other speak in, even to Kosmo.

It was that voice that encouraged Lance to look up, his eyes watery, but he blinked the water back and kept his eyes on Keith. He was surprised when he realized that his shoulders weren’t being held onto anymore. That and he was looking up at Keith, he gazed down and realized that he had sunk to the floor. Luckily no one was round them, or he would have been so embarrassed. He was still embarrassed now but at least he wasn’t around strangers. He knew these two for a day at least.

Keith started again, using the soft voice still, “You’re okay, nothing is going to happen to you. We didn’t follow you until we saw Sendak going that way, so you’re not in trouble. I’m sorry I used a harsh voice on you but Sendak isn’t someone you should mess with.”

“Keith’s right Lance, you’re not in trouble, we were just worried that something was going to happen to you if Sendak was left alone with you. He’s a very cruel man who I really don’t like. He works with Zarkon, if you know who that person is. He’s also a piece of work. No one wants to be near him. We were afraid he was going to take you to him. Rumor has it he was looking for another servant,” Shiro explained.

Upon hearing these things Lance relaxed that they weren’t mad at him and nothing was going to happen to him. They were just trying to protect him from Sendak taking him to Zarkon. He shivered at the thought of that happening to him. He didn’t want to be around Zarkon, he didn’t even want to think about that frightening man anymore. He nodded and stood up from where he was sitting, clutching the book for dear life. He had nothing to worry about, now. Things were going to be okay, and he was okay, that’s what mattered the most to him. He sighed and took some minutes to gather his thoughts before turning around and shooting the worried guys a smile.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” he said, “I’m okay now. I have the book. Are we going home?”

Keith shook his head, taking his hand. There was a jolt of electricity that ran through Lance’s body when their hands touched. If Keith felt the same thing, he sure as hell didn’t say a thing about it. Keith was leading him somewhere and then was shocked when they got in line for the café. Keith muttered something about getting something to drink to calm them all down. Keith was the one who placed the order. A black coffee for Shiro, iced coffee with soy milk for Keith, a chocolate frappuccino with whipped cream and chocolate syrup on top for him, and not to mention the dog friendly frappuccino for Kosmo.

The thought of the dog also getting something sweet made Lance happy. No matter what, Keith was considerate of his pet. Maybe Keith would be considerate for more things, like him. Or was he already considerate of him? He didn’t know but Keith’s kindness wasn’t to be taken for granted. He considered himself a lucky one. He got to see the side of Keith that the other servants weren’t privy to. Just the thought of that made him very happy.

There was a park behind the library, and the group of three went to see it. Kosmo was already there with the driver who got dismissed the moment the three were in the park. Lance watched Keith knelt by the dog and hold out the treat for him. Strangely enough, Kosmo didn’t make a huge mess like he thought the dog was going to. Once the animal was done, Keith threw away the cup and Kosmo went straight for Lance who put his drink down on the table before opening his arms for the dog to jump into. He didn’t notice the looks Shiro and Keith were sharing, or the text messages they were sharing with one another. No, he was cuddling his friend and telling him what a good boy he was.

Lance had coffee before, but it was never cold and sweet like the one he got. He could feel the sugar and the caffeine fill him up and he was given an urge to do something. He got up from his seat where the dog and him were chilling with one another, he looked at the dog and got up to run around the park. Kosmo got the message and chased him around, Lance ended up finding a stick and played fetch, as well as running with the stick to get the dog to grab the stick out of his hand. Eventually, the energy waned down, and Lance was lying on the ground with Kosmo on top of him, both exhausted from running around. The stick was left on the ground and neither of them made a claim for it. They heard the grass crunching underneath shoes as someone got closer to them. Lance turned his head, to see Shiro getting closer to them.

“You two look like you’ve had fun today,” he said as Kosmo got off him.

Lance smiled as he looked around the park to find Keith looking at the book they borrowed, “Well, I’ve never been to the park before or had a frappuccino before.”

He was probably over thinking it, but he could have sworn the moment he said these things Shiro’s face slightly fell. But he blinked, and it was back so he must have been seeing things. He kept his smile, getting up with the help of Shiro, they walked over to where Keith was reading some part of the book or at least pretending to read. As they got closer, Keith looked up and closed the book, keeping it close to him when he said they were going to head back home to get lunch. Lance knew that eventually they were going to have to go home but he didn’t want to leave the library. He wanted to stay here in the park just a little bit longer, breathing the air and being in the light of the gods. Still, he couldn’t ask for anything, he didn’t want to push his luck for one day. They headed to the cars, he and Kosmo got in one car and waited for the driver to take them home.

He watched through the window as buildings were passing by, it was a long drive, but it wasn’t long enough. Soon they were approaching the entryway to the mansion. He watched as Keith and Shiro got off their car before Lance opened his door and let Kosmo out before he got out of the car. He thanked the driver who said nothing back and drove away when the door was closed. The uneasiness that came with being here was back as he walked towards Keith and Shiro. His feet feeling like led, as he walked into the mansion. Servants were around but none of them tried to get closer to them. Keith headed for his room, with the other two and dog in tow. Lance kept his head down and ignored the stares he was given, hoping he would reach the refuge of the room as soon as he could.

The room was neat, someone came in to clean it much to Keith’s chagrin. There immediately was a knock on the door, and Shiro answered it and ended up with two plates of food for lunch. Keith then dismissed Lance for an hour, so he could have lunch and rest. When he headed to his room he dropped off the book and went to see if he could get lunch. He found that there was a mess hall for the servants, he figured since there was so many of them that they had to get food somewhere. He sighed in relief when he saw there wasn’t a long line to get food. He promptly got in line and picked up a plate. There was a ton of food and Lance was hungry, but he didn’t want to take away from someone else who needed it more. He was getting a little bit when an older woman who was keeping an eye on when to refill the food, told him that he needed to get more. Taking that to heart, Lance grabbed everything that was to his liking. He decided to sit with the older lady and talk to her.

She shooed him to go rest the moment he was done with his food. He laughed and gave her a wink and walked off to his room. It was more like a closet than a room, but it was better than nothing and he had a semblance of privacy. He got on the bed and held the book in his hands. It was older book and it had the wonderful old book smell. He opened the book to the start of the story, since he was going to have to read it anyway. He read the first chapter, unable to put the book down.

When he finished the chapter, he checked the time and noticed how late it had gotten on him, he ran from his room to Keith’s and knocked on the door, book in hand. Once again, Shiro answered the door and smiled at Lance, he smiled back as the door was opened wider for him to walk in. Keith was at the computer looking like he wanted to do anything but sit there and look at the screen. Shiro whispered to Lance that Keith was having some issues with some other classes. Lance nodded and walked carefully closer to Keith. The other must have heard him because he wasn’t surprised when he turned around and saw him.

“I hate school,” Keith muttered to himself.

Lance replied, “I doubt you hate it. But, maybe you’re just not feeling up to school work for today. And that’s okay, why don’t you rest your eyes for a bit? After some time, you can come back to it if you want to. Why don’t I get you some tea and snacks?”

“Bring me soda instead of tea and you have a deal,” Keith replied before he logged off the computer and headed toward the comfortable looking leather couch.

Lance nodded and went to do his task, the moment he went to the kitchen and said Keith needed soda and snacks, the cooks jumped on it and made the best kind of snacks that they could. Lance asked for them to make mozzarella sticks as well, lying that those were Keith’s favorites. He saw the cooks be confused but they listened anyway and made them. With the sodas in a bag and the snacks in hand, he headed back upstairs. When he got there, Shiro looked at the mozzarella sticks with amusement and held in a chuckle.

Keith took one look at the snacks and said, “What’s with the cheese sticks? Don’t they know I’m lactose intolerant?”

“You are? I didn’t know that or else I would have said something, looks like Shiro will have to eat them then,” Lance said.

Keith took one look at Shiro who was chuckling and took two mozzarella sticks and dipped them in ranch dressing and ate them just like that. Lance made a face, he was used to dipping them in marinara, but this was the first time he had seen someone dip them in ranch. He didn’t think it would taste good but then Keith did it again. He shook his head and offered the marinara but then the other said he didn’t like the way it tasted with the cheese. Shiro reminded Keith that he was lactose intolerant while the other said he knew but he didn’t care. He motioned for everyone to sit by or on the couch and enjoy the mozzarella sticks while they were hot. The bodyguard and servant didn’t need to be told twice as they dug in to the snacks. Lance tried a mozzarella stick with ranch dressing and liked how it tasted.

Keith watched him do it and nodded approvingly, “At least you’re willing to try it and see how it is. Shiro won’t even get near it.”

“Is that so? Why is that Shiro?” Lance asked, scooting closer to the bodyguard.

Shiro watched Lance dip again in ranch and blanched, “It’s just no. There is no way that tastes as good as the two of you make it seem.”

Lance laughed while Keith rolled his eyes. Soon the snacks were devoured, and the sodas were gone, Keith had given Lance Shiro’s share of the sodas because Shiro didn’t drink that kind of thing. Lance wondered why if he drank coffee. Isn’t that the same thing? He asked this, and it was Keith’s turn to chuckle while Shiro did his best to explain the main differences between soda and coffee. Lance didn’t get it, but he decided not to go up against Shiro and whatever he believed.

Once it was time to walk Kosmo again, he took the dog out and left Shiro and Keith together once more. He loved the wind around him and the sun, he smiled as he let the dog walk around before doing his business. This time it took way longer than normal, but he didn’t mind. He would appreciate any time to be out in the sun. Even when Kosmo was done, he kept them out a little longer to play a little, to wear the dog out and help him get a restful sleep tonight. Tomorrow, Lance promised Kosmo that he was going to get a bath which seemed to make the dog happy. With a smile still on his face, he walked inside and gave no attention to the ones around him. It wasn’t like those servants really cared about him.

He headed upstairs to Keith’s room when he bumped into someone and fell down the stairs. He was thankful he didn’t break anything, that would have been the last thing he wanted. He gazed up to see three people staring down at him. He gathered his bearings and came up, petting Kosmo to let him know that he was okay. A blush was finding its way to his face, he kept his face lowered not wanting to insult these people, he didn’t know who they were.

“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking to see if there was anyone on the stairs before I started walking up,” He said with a quick bow.

A lady cleared her voice and lifted his chin up to look at her. The moment he looked up he knew this was Keith’s mother, on her two sides were Keith’s father and grandfather. He felt himself shake, hopefully it wasn’t as much as this morning with Sendak. But he knew that he was in trouble for this. The other servants around him had stopped their work to see what will happen. He ignored them, the blush of embarrassment still on his face. He braced himself to be hit but was surprised when Keith’s mother did no such thing. He dared to higher his eyes and look at her and there wasn’t an ounce of anger on her.

She said, “Oh never mind that, we weren’t looking either, all I want to know is if you are alright.”

“Yes, Ma’am I’m fine,” He reassured her.

She got closer to him and stared at him intently, “Are you sure, young man?”

“Yes, I am sure, Ma’am,” He relaxed a little and gave her a smile.

She nodded and let go of him, “Alright, if you feel pain or soreness tomorrow, make sure to tell Keith so he can take you to the doctor.”

“Yes Ma’am,” He said as they passed him.

He watched them leave and then he climbed the stairs slowly. When he finally reached Keith’s room, he knocked before he opened the door he saw Keith on the computer again and Shiro nowhere to be found. It must have been his time to go. He undid the leash and let Kosmo run to Keith as Lance fussed around and fixed the room a little bit before looking at book on the coffee table. He sat down on the couch and began to read the next chapter. He was comfortable and finished the chapter in no time. Keith was still on the computer with Kosmo at his feet. He decided he was just going to rest his eyes for a moment, just to relax.

_Somehow, Lance was a child and was home again, his siblings playing with him until it was time for Veronica to have her friends sleep over. Suddenly, play time stopped and he was in his room, hearing the giggling of the girls. His brothers weren’t allowed to go to his room when anyone was over. It would make the guests curious. He was by himself, trying to have fun and not make too much noise at the same time. He didn’t want anyone to think that he was up here. His mother told him that he was going to be taken away from them if anyone knew about him. He shivered at the thought of being taken away from his family. He heard someone whisper his name, calling him. He looked around, but no one was there._

_He turned around once more, he was back to his age, back to that night that he had been kidnapped. He could feel Lotor’s hand on his as he was being told to be quiet. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, and he was in the trunk of the car, he could feel how it was being bound and sobbing as he was taken. It hurt this time as much as it had hurt the original time. He fussed, and he still heard someone calling his name, but he didn’t know who it was. How could he hear it if he was in the trunk of a car? The voice was slowly getting stronger, and Lance couldn’t place the voice. It was getting to him, he closed his eyes trying to get the sound of his name being called out of his head._

_When he opened his eyes again, he was in a rather large cage, everyone could see him, and he could see the people. He saw his mother along with his siblings and his father. They all had tears in their eyes._

_“I told you they were going to take you if you weren’t careful,” his mother said_

_People were getting closer to him reaching their hands out to touch him. He tried to keep away from them but there was just too many of them wanting to touch him like he was some sort of animal. Perhaps he was an animal. He had a collar like one, he could feel the mark on the back of his neck and he could feel that he needed to do something but what?_

_“I’m sorry...”_

_“We tried our best to protect you,” Luis whispered to him._

_The touching got more inappropriate, people wanting to take off his clothes and see what was underneath. He fought the touches and ended up loosing his shirt. He closed his eyes to ignore what they were doing to him. When he opened his eyes, he was still there. His family started to walk away from his cage. He made a face and tried his best to reach out to them._

_“I’m sorry...”_

_“You should have stayed in your room,” Veronica told him._

_He could see Allura and Lotor take money from a man who had to be Zarkon. The man smiled wickedly at him and he could feel the shivers reach down his spine. Fear racked his body, and he kept his hand extended toward his family. He saw Allura and Lotor hand a key to Zarkon, the key to his cage, he felt the fear bubble even more. He wanted to get out. He wanted his family, but they were farther from him than Zarkon was. He didn’t want this, he wanted to go home._

_“I’m sorry!”_

“Lance!”

Soft light was what greeted him when he came back from his dreams. He couldn’t catch his breath no matter how much he was trying. He looked up and saw Keith knelt beside him opposite of the couch, his eyes were filled with worry. He kept his distance from Lance as if he was scared he was going to break if he did touch him. That was when it hit Lance that he had fallen asleep in Keith’s room. His eyes went wide as he sat up, the book fell to the floor in the process. He watched Keith pick up the book and place it on the coffee table and then stand up. Once more Lance felt embarrassed, he figured that he would be sent back to Allura and Lotor wouldn’t he? His gaze fell to the floor and he stammered out an apology when Keith cut him off.

Keith spoke in a still voice, “First things first, mother told me you feel down the stairs. I’m taking you to the doctor tomorrow to make sure nothing is broken or out of place. This is not me asking you for permission.”

“Yes, sir,” he said softly.

Keith sighed, “It’s been a long day today. As much as I want to talk to you more. I shouldn’t. It’s getting late and you need your rest. But mark my words, we will talk tomorrow. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, you do, sir,” he replied as he stood up, knowing he had been dismissed for the night.

He said goodbye to Kosmo and walked out of the door and went straight to his room. He couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down his eyes. Why did he mess up so much? Did he really want to get sent back to Allura and Lotor only to be sent to Zarkon? He didn’t want that or any of that! He wanted to go home as soon as he could. He wanted his mother, father, siblings. He missed them more than anything. He let his tears and sobs lull him to a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, you all might hate me for making Lance suffer but don't worry its going to get better. We just have to experience the bad before the good and bad again before the great. Soon chapter four will be up and I promise it's going to be a good one.


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